He Never Cried
by Tseng-San
Summary: Naruto's finally brought Sasuke home! However, after the council hears about this, they quickly choose to have Sasuke executed for his traitorous crimes! How will Naruto and the gang act? SakuNaru. Please R&R!
1. He Never Cried

"_Don't worry, Sakura-chan, it's the promise of a lifetime."_

That was what he said, all those years ago… and with each passing day, each passing moment, she found herself regretting making him do it more and more. Because with each passing day, she felt herself missing him more and more.

"Oh Naruto." she whispered into her pillow, allowing few fresh tears run down her cheeks and onto her sheets.

_Flashback, 5 years ago_

_It couldn't be true, could it? All the rumors, that said that Naruto was coming home, with an unconscious figure draped upon his shoulders. It couldn't… was it true? Was it true that after all these years, Naruto had finally been able to bring Sasuke home?_

_It was like a dream come true._

_No, it WAS a dream come true._

_Heart in her throat and thumping at the speed of sound, Sakura ran outside and towards the gate to welcome both members of her long-separated team. Team 7 was no longer anything but a memory, if anyone had anything to say about it._

_As she ran, a plethora of thoughts bled through her head, swimming about and making her incredibly dizzy. How had Naruto, dead last, been able to finally defeat his childhood rival? It didn't make any sense._

_Sure, over the course of the years, Naruto had gotten stronger… waaaayyy stronger. But Sasuke had become stronger still. There was absolutely no way that pathetic little Naruto could have dragged him home willingly, right? So… how had it even happened?_

_However, her mind went blank and mouth went dry the moment she stumbled upon the gate, eyes beholding a scene brought straight out of heaven if she had anything to say about it._

_Even though he was greatly injured and was hobbling with the extra weight on his shoulders, Naruto spared no time in flashing the pink-haired girl his award-winning smile with a weak thumbs up._

"_H-hey… S-s-sakura-chan." He coughed out moments before he passed out._

"S-s-sakura-san?" a voice filtered into Sakura's ears, breaking her trend of thought. "Are you alright?"

Looking up at the Hyuuga heiress, Sakura took a moment to realize that Hinata had truly grown, along with the rest of them. She was no longer that stuttering little girl who only began to show any sign of independence during her first chuunin exams, yet neither was she the still-shy girl with a more-than generous chest.

Hinata had grown into a beautiful woman, and was now waiting for her second child along with her husband, Kiba. At first, everyone was really shocked hear that the two were going out, they had kept it a secret for the most part. The only reason that Sakura knew ahead of time was because Hinata and Sakura had grown a lot closer since Naruto's departure, and shared almost everything with each other. Regardless, Sakura had put on a pretty well-constructed _'surprised'_ mask when Kiba and Hinata had told everyone.

She had enough practice with her _'happy'_ mask that she wore every day now.

"I-I'm fine, Hinata-chan." Sakura smiled an incredibly broken smile towards her close friend. One that, surprisingly enough, would even fool Ino. However, Hinata didn't need her Byakugan to tell something was wrong.

"W-was it about N-Naruto-kun?"

Sakura blinked, surprised that Hinata was even able to talk about her first crush so easily. While everyone had taken the news hard, Hinata had been one of the most distraught. That and… well Sakura as well.

As a stubborn, rogue tear rolled down the rosette's cheek, she could only nod sadly as her memories flooded back into her mind.

"_Uchiha Sasuke, you are hereby condemned to death for your traitorous acts against the village of Konohana and its citizens." came the voice of an elderly councilman._

_There was a shudder that ran across all those who attended, followed by a roar of protest. Among the protesters were Naruto and Sakura, who were definitely shouting the loudest._

"_You can't do this!" Naruto practically roared, "he didn't know what he was doing! He was under the influence of the curse seal!"_

_Of course, he knew in his heart that it was a lie, but no… he couldn't have brought his brother back after so long, just to see him get executed! It wasn't right! Sakura, on the other hand, wasn't doing that much better._

"_BASTARDS!" She screamed, trying to run forwards and assault the councilmen, only to be restrained by a rather somber Tsudane. "Hokage-sama! You can't let them do this!"_

_Tsudane couldn't answer, only turn her gaze ashamedly to the side. It was out of her hands. If the council wanted to see blood, they would have it._

"_SILENCE!" The leader of the council roared, slamming a staff onto the ground to signal it. However, it took a few tries before the crowd's noise finally died down. "The judgement passed against Uchiha Sasuke is final! This is not up for discussion! Now that the verdict is passed, this meeting is adjourned!"_

_Sasuke didn't even flinch. He was expecting this. He had been expecting this ever since the day he left Konohana. People weren't forgiving, they didn't give second chances, they weren't like Naruto._

_Naruto. For a moment, a pair of onyx, emotionless eyes turned to meet a part of horrified and outraged bright blue ones. However, this only lasted a moment before Sasuke reverted his attention back forward, as an ANBU officer stepped forward to bring him back to his cell._

_Unable to hold back, Sakura broke down, tears flowing freely from her eyes. No… no… no… this couldn't be happening, they had finally gotten him back and now… this?!_

_Why were the fates so cruel to them? Why couldn't fate just smile on them once during their pathetic existences? Why? WHY?! It just wasn't fair!_

"_Wait!"_

_Everyone froze, heads turning to the source of the noise. If they hadn't recognized it from his voice, they would have recognized him through the means of seeing his head full of bright blond hair. Sasuke was halted moments before he reached the door that would forever take him away from the sight of his friends._

"_Is there something you wish to say, Uzimaki Naruto?" The leader of the council raised an eyebrow. What did the Kyuubi possibly want to offer?_

_For a long time, Naruto's fists were clenched at his sides, shaking from a mixture of rage and horror. No… he couldn't let this happen. He wouldn't let this happen. The blond-haired boy's jaw was set in a grim line as he mentally prepared himself._

'_Don't worry Sakura-chan, it's a promise of a lifetime.'_

"_If you have nothing to s—…"_

"_TAKE ME INSTEAD!"_

Despite what everyone had initially thought, Sakura did not jump all over Sasuke after his return. Quite the opposite, actually. In fact, even after five years, Sakura had not chosen to date any man. Her excuse was simply that she didn't have the time, or had to focus on training, or didn't want to ruin a friendship.

But everyone with half a brain knew that it was a lie.

Not to say that Sakura wasn't attractive at all, that in itself would be a complete lie. Over the past five years, Sakura had achieved the absolute pinnacle of beauty that other women could only be jealous of. Her rather lacking chest as a child had grown and definitely filled out, along with a rear that could make Ero-senin fall over with a nosebleed, (though, that wasn't really saying much.) Her hair was as pink as ever, still at the same length as it had been since she cut it back in the forest and held back with a red, Konohana hair band.

Any man that didn't try to chase after this girl was a fool.

However, any time a man would come to her with a bocay of flowers, or a love-note, she would just kindly decline. Any man who attempted to persist past that quickly learnt exactly why she was the Hokage's student.

"I miss him too." Hinata admitted, taking a seat next to Sakura's form on her bed, lightly wrapping an arm around her friend's shoulder and rubbing it gently. "B-but… sometimes we have to move on."

"… How can you say that?" Sakura whispered lowly, a couple more tears rolling down her cheeks. "How could I even think about that when I'm the one who caused all of it?"

Hinata sighed, before shaking her head lightly. Tenderly, the Hyuuga girl wrapped an arm around her bulging stomach, smiling down at it thoughtfully. "You move on… because he would have wanted you to move on."

With that, she stood up to leave the rosette to her thoughts, only stopping at the door to look over her shoulder.

"He never cried." Hinata's soft voice rang out sadly, "No matter what."

Once Hinata was gone, Sakura silently broke down into tears. _'I-it's all my fault…'_

**A/N: Hey all, this is my first Naruto fic, so sorry if some things are off. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter!**

**Please R&R!**


	2. Never Forget

_5 years ago…_

"_So, it's going to be you?" came the weary voice of a blond ninja. He had been in the cell for five days now. Apparently, the members of the council were more than happy to trade the life of the last of a clan with the godforsaken Kyuubi._

_So there he was._

_Not to mention, there was a certain someone standing in front of his jail cell. Unfortunately for Naruto Uzimaki, vistors weren't allowed. However, ANBU members were._

"_It's been awhile, Naruto." came the voice of Sasuke's replacement all those years ago. Sai too, had seemingly matured in physique. Rather than remain the utterly thin and pale-skinned teenager that he once had been, he was now fully mature, with broad shoulder that didn't make him look so damned lanky anymore. "You look like shit."_

_There was silence for a moment as Naruto blinked at his former teammate. "Shit? Of course I look like shit. I haven't eaten for two days and I'm about to get my head lobbed off."_

_Even so, he still smiled weakly. Sai would never understand this man._

"_Oh, and here I thought it was just because of your tiny penis." The emotionless man said with his trademark smile._

"_Why you--!" However, he paused mid-stand, and simply sighed. Once again, he offered his… semi-friend a weak smile. "You know… I'm actually tempted to miss you."_

"_Don't worry." Sai blinked. "In about ten minutes, I don't think you'll be able to miss anyone any longer."_

"_Wow, I can see you got more optimistic." Naruto rolled his eyes._

"_Thank you."_

"_It was sarcasm, dimwit!" Naruto snapped, before pausing again. What was the point of even getting angry with this… robot-like-man?_

"_Okay."_

_Shaking his head, Naruto pulled something out of his back pocket, before pushing it through the bars of the cells. "Hey, could you do me a favor?"_

_Sai simply raised an eyebrow in response._

"_Could you deliver this to Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked the emotionless man, bright blue eyes looking at his former teammate with a sad smile. "They won't let me mail anything out from here."_

_For a moment, the ANBU member was silent before taking the piece of rolled up parchment from Naruto's hands. "Of course."_

"_Thank you."_

Wiping the fatigue from her eyes, Sakura simply sighed as she looked at the clock. Had her shift really lasted for so long? It was 3:00 in the morning and she had just gotten home. Life really was just getting that crappy wasn't it? Well, if it counted for anything, at least she had the next day off.

Great… another day to sit around and… mope.

No, she couldn't do that. She had to distract herself. Maybe she would go over to Ino's… and do some… girl stuff. Which would probably be like… ogling guys or gossiping or something.

Eh… maybe that wouldn't be such a good idea.

Still, anything would be better than staying at home, right? Letting out a heavy sigh, the pink-haired kunoichi accidentally knocked a rolled of piece of parchment from the shelf of her drawer. With an arched eyebrow, she bent over to pick it up, only to realize immediately what it was.

Naruto's parting letter.

The sheer memory of it caused tears to spring up into Sakura's eyes. Sinking into a sit on her bed, she carefully unrolled the fragile piece of parchment and began to re-read the letter that she had read far-too-many times. The amount of tearstains upon its wrinkly edges was proof enough of that.

Still, she had to read it. It was the only thing left of him.

"_Dear Sakura-chan,_

_There's a lot of things I want to say to you… but I don't think I'll have any time to say all of it. So I'll start with what's most important, and end when I reach the bottom of this page._

_4 years ago, you told me that you loved me… you said that you had just come to your senses and that there was no use loving a missing-nin and criminal like Sasuke-teme. Only… I didn't believe. I wanted to, believe me… I just… couldn't. It was just so odd, how you came out and told me that you loved me._

_I couldn't help but feel that… I had been traded up for second best._

_That… because Sasuke became a missing-nin and only grew further and further away from you… you chose to pick whatever was left._

_It made me feel like garbage._

_When you said, "they say a woman's heart is like the Autumn's Sky, right?" I couldn't help but feel like… like… just like._

_That's why I reacted the way I did… and that's why I've been avoiding you for 4 years. Honestly, from the bottom of MY heart, I have always loved you. Now matter how many times you pushed me aside and crushed me under your boot, I always continued to love you._

_That's why I never gave up. And even though you told me to give up on my promise to you… I couldn't. Because it's a lifelong promise… no matter what._

_So that's why I did it. So you could smile again, and not those fake-smiles you've been giving off ever since Sasuke-teme left… but those real ones when he was around. I'd much rather see you happy with someone else than with me and not._

_So go, have a great life with teme._

_And never forget that I love you._

_Uzimaki Naruto._"

Silently, tears dripped onto the worn piece of parchment. Why? Why Naruto? Why?! Why did he do it? Why did he sacrifice himself for her sake? For HER?! She was the one who caused him an endless amount of pain, made him make promises that were practically impossible, and yet… and yet…

Why?

"_Because I love you, Sakura-chan."_

Rolling up the piece of parchment and hugging her knees to her chest, Sakura sobbed loudly into her form, wishing all the pain would just go away.

"I-I l-love you too… Naruto."

_9 years ago_

"_But, Naruto… I can touch you… You bring me peace… from the bottom of my heart, I--…"_

"_Stop it Sakura…" Naruto cut her off, pushing out of her embrace. "This isn't funny."_

_She was shocked, no… more than shocked. Hadn't he always declared his love for her? Wasn't he the one who had always protected her because of this love? Wasn't it out of this love that he made her this promise? W-why was he acting this way?_

"_What are you so upset about…?" Sakura began again hesitantly, "I've just fallen for you instead of Sasuke… They say a woman's heart is like the autumn sky, right?"_

_Even as those words left her lips... she knew… somehow, something wasn't right._

_If there was need of any proof, Naruto suddenly grabbed the girl's shoulder, who suppressed an 'eep' with little effect. "I… hate people who lie to themselves!"_

For the next 4 years, Naruto had avoided her, dodging her wherever he went. Although Sakura didn't show it, it had killed her inside. True, at first, she hadn't really loved Naruto, she was just trying to protect him from the suicide mission that he was undertaking.

But even so, he had been her closest friend, and now that pillar of strength that he had been was gone. It was then and only then that Sakura realized how damned important the fool was to her.

Yet every time she tried to talk to him, every time she tried to get close to him, he would abruptly walk away, leaving her staring at the spot that he had once been standing. It made her feel sick, up to the point in which she felt like throwing up.

She just felt so damn alone in the world.

She could remember her reaction to Naruto's declaration, 4 years later. She was so shocked that she didn't have the chance to protest. Why? Why would Naruto sacrifice himself so that Sasuke could live?

Why was he trading himself for a traitor?!

It wasn't until she had received the note that she knew… and by then… it was already too late.

_5 years ago_

'_Why… why is he doing this?!' Sakura's eyes were wide with fear, 'why is he saving Sasuke?!'_

_There was no answer from the usually loud shinobi to her silent questions as he was marched up the executioner's stand. Frantically, Sakura's eyes darted about, wasn't anyone going to do anything?_

_Surely, Tsudane had some sort of plan… right?_

_And yet, she didn't even see the Hokage stir as she watched the boy being wrestled onto the stand with completely somber eyes._

_T-this… couldn't be happening!_

"_Uzimaki Naruto," rang the voice of the leader of the council, "you have been brought here today to take the place of the man known as Uchiha Sasuke."_

"_You can't do this!" roared the voice of Gai, already beginning to fight his way to the stand. "Naruto's done nothing wrong!"_

"_My pride and honor cannot allow this!" Lee interjected, joining his sensei as a riot began to break out among the onlookers._

"_Control the crowd." The councilmen snarled. Immediately, ANBU sprung into action, driving the rioting crowd back and away from the executioner's stand. "Hurry up, get it over with!"_

"_NO!" Sakura screamed as the axe was raised, "NARUTO!"_

_However, she was too late, they were all too late. The last thing a pair of bright blue eyes seemed to register was a flash of pink hair running towards him._

_Moments later, a head full of blond hair dropped to the floor with a sickening thud._


	3. Promise Me

_13 years ago_

"_Hey, Sakura-chan… I've been wondering about something."_

_Sakura paused, blinking for a moment. Naruto? Think? She looked up for a moment, no, the sky was not falling. Apparently the day that Naruto thought was not the day that the world ended._

… _Hmm… she'd have to rethink that theory._

_Maybe when he made sense… yea, that sounded right._

"… _okay… about what?" Sakura started after a moment of hesitation._

"_Why are you so devoted to Sasuke-teme?" Was his rather forward question, there was no hesitation… no type of emotion. It was just an honest, genuine question._

"_W-w-why?" she stuttered, clearly not having expected the question. Why ask now? Wasn't it clear that she would do ANYTHING to have Sasuke back? He was the reason she continued, the reason that she pushed forward. Didn't Naruto know that by know? "Because I love Sasuke-kun."_

_Little did she know that as she said this, the heart of a 13 year old boy shattered to utter pieces, and they would probably never be pieced back together._

"… _Oh." he fell silent, not really knowing what else to say… well, no… he just didn't trust his mouth enough at the moment._

_It took a good five minutes before Naruto could speak again without worrying about letting on to how much it hurt him. "… I'm going away for awhile."_

"_Huh?" Sakura blinked, looking up for in shock. "Are you going on an extended mission?"_

"_Sort of." Naruto said bleakly, his fox-like smile rising to his face again. It was all fake… but what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her. "I'm going to be gone for 3 years so that I can become stronger and bring back Sasuke-teme!"_

He always put himself last, always. One had to wonder if it was because everyone treated him last… so he treated himself. His hopes and wants, aside from becoming Hokage, were always in the dark. To be honest no one even knew much about Naruto aside from that, not that anyone really wanted to. They just… they just… didn't care about dead-last.

Sakura's pager beeped loudly a couple times before Sakura even stirred. _'W-wha--? I thought I had the day off.'_

Apparently, the poor girl had cried herself to sleep, hand still clenched tightly about Naruto's final words to her and pressed against her weeping heart. Glancing over at the clock, it read: 6:00AM. What the hell? What could possibly be going on at the hospital that was so important that she was being pulled away from her from her day off? Heck, she was so worn out that she couldn't even remember the last time she had had a day off.

Glaring down at the dreadful contraption strapped to her belt, Sakura simply rolled her eyes before moving to the mirror to quickly make herself look somewhat presentable. She paused for a moment before letting out a short, albeit bitter bark of laughter.

"_You look beautiful no matter what Sakura-chan!"_

'_Yea right.'_ Sakura thought sarcastically before moving away from he mirror and strapping her pack to her belt. It wasn't long before she was out the door and on her way towards the hospital.

--

"You look… well, Sakura." The Hokage of Konohana lied bluntly, giving her former student a quick once-over before letting out a weary sigh.

"Same could be said about yourself, _Hokage-sama._" It would take someone as dull as Naruto not to sense the sarcasm and venom in the title. Obviously, ever since Naruto's execution Sakura had stopped speaking to the Hokage. It was understandable, since Tsunade hadn't done _anything_ to stop the council from executing Naruto.

Once again, the Hokage mentally sighed, age was certainly catching up with her. _'If only she knew…'_

Clearing her throat, Tsunade simply overlooked the sign of disrespect before unrolling a scroll. "I'm sending Team 7 on a mission."

Sakura simply raised an eyebrow. "Team 7? If you haven't noticed, _great_ Hokage, there isn't a Team 7 anymore. Kakashi-sensei left Konohana to seek solitude, Sasuke ran off _again_, and Sai's been missing ever since Naruto was--…" She cut herself short, willing the tears that were beginning to brim her eyes to go away.

"… I know." Tsunade said after a moment of silence. "That's why I'm sending what's left of Team 7, along with another."

The rosette raised her eyebrows again. Oh, so this was just a roundabout way for the Hokage to say, _'I'm sending you,'_ Gods, she could have just said that, would have been easier.

"… Another?"

As if on queue, there was a knock at the door of the Hokage's office, after waiting a moment, the door opened and a familiar figure strode in, smoking a cigarette. Despite Konohana's laws as to not smoke indoors, Tsunade had long ago given up on trying to get Shikamaru to follow that law. The lazy ninja had grown a lot over the years, mainly in height more than anything. However, he still slumped whenever he stood, and was still that same, lazy ninja that was considered a genius.

"Yo." how profound, one would think that the man would learn how to expand on his vocabulary over the years. He walked into the office and took a couple of seconds to look around, breathing out a lung-full of smoke before closing his eyes, "how troublesome."

"Shikamaru, Sakura," Tsunade called out in a strict tone, causing both of them to subconsciously snap to attention, "I'm sending you both to Suna."

"… Suna? Why Suna?" The rosette blinked, what could be so important with that place that they had to send two jounin?

"… How troublesome."

"As of late, Suna has reported that the borders of Sand are being encroached upon by anonymous forces. While border patrol have been able to successfully drive them back for the meantime, there's no telling how things could end up." Tsunade explained, "I'm sending you as a testament of our good will and in honor of our treaty."

"… I guess we got no choice then." Shikamaru was the first to speak, followed by the simple nodding of Sakura.

"You two will leave immediately." Tsunade's sharp voice rang out, "Dismissed."

_Flashback, 5 years ago_

"_WHAT?!"_

_Tsunade sighed, rubbing her temples and praying to some deity that she would no be deaf by the time a certain ball of energy finally stopped ranting._

"_How can they do this?! It wasn't his fault! He was under the control of the curse seal!"_

"… _You and I both know that's a lie, Naruto." Tsunade sighed, "Sasuke ran off to become stronger simply in order to destroy Itachi. It was the thing that made him make the mistakes that he did, not some curse mark."_

"_B-but--!"_

"_I know how you feel Naruto," Tsunade sighed, "but if the council wants blood, they'll have it."_

"…"

_There was a tense silence that filled the room as Naruto took the time to actually sort out his feelings. Even from the outside, Tsunade could tell that he was having some sort of inner war. What was it that he could be thinking about?_

"_Hey, Obaa-san."_

"_Eh?" There was a vein that popped out of Tsunade's forehead, but for once, she didn't bother to correct him._

"_Promise me that… when it happens, you won't do anything."_

"… _When it happens?" Tsunade blinked and raised an eyebrow, "Naruto what the hell are you talking about? You're not going to try to rescue him, are you?"_

"_No." Naruto quickly argued, some type of odd emotion springing up into his eyes. "J-just promise me."_

_Tsunade blinked again, whatever it was, it had to be important. Naruto NEVER stuttered._

"… _Alright." Tsunade said after a long moment. "I promise."_

Slamming down an empty bottle of sake, Tsunade let out a groan before letting her head rest on her forearms. "… If you only knew, Sakura."


	4. He Was Family

"Welcome to Suna." were the first words that reached the ears of either traveling companions as the two crossed the borders of Sand. Due to the glaring sun, Sakura had to narrow her eyes slightly in order to identify the source of the sound.

It was Temari of Sand, otherwise known as the Kazekage's sister. Because Temari had often visited Konohana as Suna's diplomat, Sakura had gotten to know the girl well enough over the years; however, they were definitely not as close as the blond and Shikamaru were.

Sometimes Sakura was under the impression that the two were actually going out... or something.

However, whenever Sakura would confront the man about this, which was hardly ever, Shkamaru would simply roll his eyes and say what he was about to say right then.

"... How troublesome."

He promptly got hit over the head with a large fan that doubled as a baseball bat when it was closed. Sakura winced, that had to hurt.

"Ow." was the_ Legendary Laze's_ grand reply.

"Of all the people they had to send," Temari scoffed, placing her hand on her hips, "did they have to send your lazy ass?"

Sakura couldn't help but feel slightly miffed... that was, of course, until Temari spoke up again. "Not you, Sakura."

"Hai, Temari-san," Sakura smiled awkwardly and scratched the back of her head. 'Hn... that was something Naruto used to do, he must have rubbed off on me after being around him so long.'

"... Troublesome woman."

Sometimes, Sakura really had to wonder how on earth the man could be such a genius under all those... layers of laziness. Of course, he was promptly hit over the head again. Letting off a small sweat drop, Sakura sighed and shook her head. "You know, we should probably get going, I don't really like the desert at night."

"Ah yea," Temari nodded, "I know what you mean, hot as hell during the day, cold as ice during the night. Luckily, Suna's buildings are constructed in such a way that they store the heat that they absorb during the day. It's like... having a heater during the night."

"... Save us the science lecture troublesome w-- ow!" He winced, nursing the side of his head with his hand as the blond brandished her weapon menacingly. "Alright, alright, let's just... get going."

Sighing and shaking her head, Sakura set off after the two. Really, they were like an old, bickering couple.

_5 years ago_

_"I think I know where he is." Came a voice from behind the rosette, causing her to gasp in surprise and drop the medical supplies she had been carrying._

_"N-naruto?!" She spun around to see the man perched on the window seal... much like Kakashi-sensei would have done. To be honest, she was surprised Naruto was even here. Apart from the occassional 'hi' everyone once in awhile... they really hadn't talked for years now._

_Not since her pathetic confession... that is._

_Well, she hadn't meant it anyways, right?_

_'Yea Sakura, keep lying to yourself. Maybe one day you'll believe yourself.' Sakura thought, funny how ironic that was. At the time of her confession, both Naruto and Sakura had believed it was a lie._

_Of course, Naruto still thought that, but Sakura...? Not so sure._

_"W-where w-w-who is... Naruto?" Sakura asked, heartbeat pounding from surprise and possibly... hope? Hope for what exactly? Just because Naruto was talking to her again didn't mean that he would like... fall all over her again._

_"Teme."_

_Sakura froze. N-Naruto was still looking for him? After all these years? Naruto was still trying to keep his promise? W-why? Why was he doing it? Hadn't Sakura told him that she didn't care about his promise anymore? That he could forget about it._

_"I don't turn back." Naruto commented offhandedly, obviously having deciphered the reason as to why Sakura looked so shocked. "It's my way of the ninja."_

_"B-but--...!"_

_"I'll be back with him shortly." Naruto cut her off, turning on his heel so he could jump off the window seal and out of the hospital, but not before turning his head slightly and muttering one last thing. "... and then you can be happy again."_

_Sakura froze again, tears springing to her eyes. That stupid, stupid idiot! Why was he still making sure that she was the one that was happy?! Why couldn't he... for once, be selfish?_

_'Don't worry,' she thought silently, 'when you come back Naruto, I'll make sure that you're the one that's happy.'_

"I see you made it back without killing our guests, Temari." it was that cold voice that always creeped the hell out of her, even though she knew that it shouldn't anymore. Not since Naruto had saved him from Shukaku, at any rate.

"Oh please," Temari rolled her eyes, "if I killed them, I wouldn't be able to torture them... unless I was a necrophiliac, which I'm not."

Gaara, the Kazekage, simply raised a non-existant eyebrow at the sight of Shikamaru and Sakura.

"This is almost nostalgic." his flat tone rang out as he stoop up and lightly bowed, the two ninjas from Konohana did the same.

"It's been awhile, Kazekage-sama." Sakura said, causing Shikamaru, Gaara, and Temari to share a look.

"Call me Gaara," the Kazekage shrugged lightly at Sakura's baffled expression, "it wouldn't feel right for one of his friends to have to be so polite to me."

"Hi--? Oh." It took a moment for Sakura to figure it out, but she soon realized that he was talking about Naruto, causing her expression to fall slightly.

Gaara noticed this, but misunderstood it and thought he had to explain. "He was family, Rookie 9 was family to him... Which makes you family."

Sakura blinked, did Gaara really respect him that much? She continued to stare for a moment in shocked silence.

"... Troublesome women." apparently, Shikamaru thought of a good way to break the awkward silence. He was promptly punished by death glares from not one, but two women... and everything went back to normal.

"Cain." Gaara called out after a moment, his stoic demeanor returning to him... if it had left him at all, that is. As if on queue, a ninja appeared, clad in turban-like bandages that covered his entire face, save a slit for his eyes. However, it was so dark it that slit that no one could even see his eyes. Apparently, this seemed like the ANBU equal for Suna.

"This is Cain," Gaara explained, "he will be your bodyguard."

"Bodyguard?!" Both of them burst out at the same time, followed by a "... how troublesome," from the male. "G-Gaara-sama, we... don't exactly need a bodyguard, we're quite capable on our own."

Gaara twitched as the _ANBU_ seemed to shift uncomfortably. The rosette, of course, didn't know why and was promptly nudged by Temari.

"Don't call him that in front of his subordinates, you airhead." she hissed at the girl.

"Wha--? But you just said..." Sakura blinked before finally registering. "Oooohhhh... errm... Sorry, Lord Kazekage, but as I said--..."

"There'll be no room for discussion." Gaara cut her off, eyes narrowing slightly in annoyance. "Here in Suna, you are guests. As the Kazekage of this village, I have to make sure my guests are looked after, understand?"

"Y-yes sir." Sakura sighed, well looks like they both had an official stalker now, one that hadn't even spoken yet. Turning her head to the masked man, she chuckled nervously and scratched the back of her head. "Gomen for the rudeness, but what was your name again."

No response. The man just seemed to stare at her, of course, since she couldn't see his eyes, she couldn't tell... but she was pretty sure. Irritation at the fact that yet another guy was ogling her, Sakura twitched before growling slightly and striding forward, grabbing the man by the hem of his robes.

"Hey, I asked you a qu--!"

"He's also mute." The Kazekage cut her off.

She blinked looking in between the two of them for a moment before sighing and letting the guy go. Great, she had just threatened a guy who was disabled for no good reason at all in front of one of the most powerful and well-respected shinobi on the planet.

This day was going _really_ well for her so far.

_7 years ago_

_"Jeez Naruto, could you take it easy for once?" A vein twitched in the girl's forehead. This was the third time... the third time that Naruto had been in the hospital in the past month! Just what was he trying to do, kill himself? "Hey baka, I'm talking to you!"_

_No response. To be honest, it hurt. It hurt so much that the man that she once called her best friend wouldn't even talk to her. All because of that stupid, STUPID confession._

_"... Right, of course... you don't talk to me." Sakura muttered, before sinking into her chair beside his medical bed._

_4 broken ribs, a broken femur, shattered elbow, kneecap, and jaw... all from practicing some odd new jutsu that Naruto had yet to reveal to her._

_... Like Naruto revealed anything to her these days._

_"... Why are you doing this?" Sakura sobbed silently, looking at her hands. "W-why are you... working yourself to death?"_

_"... Not strong enough." The boy muttered. Sakura looked up, shocked. She honestly hadn't been expecting a response. "... Can't bring him back yet."_

_She blinked, so... he hadn't given up yet. "... W-why are... you so hell-bent on bringing him back?"_

_"..."_

Sakura sighed, no, he wouldn't answer. Of course he wouldn't, he never told her anything anymore. Funny, they used o be like family... and now? Nothing... nothing at all. Getting up from her seat, Sakura hastily wiped a couple tears from her face. "F-fine... don't answer me, it's obvious that you can't stand being around me!"

_Before he could react, she fled from his room, leaving a frowning blond boy. Naruto sighed, before closing his eyes._

_"... Because you love him, Sakura-chan."_


	5. Droplets of Rain

"Well, fine. Let's just go and get settled down before the briefing." Sakura huffed, slightly embarrassed with her numerous mistakes made in front of the Kazekage. In a matter of moments she turned on her heel and left the room, shortly followed by a sighing male shinobi and a silent robed one.

For a moment, Gaara felt like stealing Shikamaru's famous line: _"Troublesome,"_ when regarding a certain rosette. His eyes narrowed slightly in annoyance as he rubbed a his temples with his forefingers.

"Gaara…" Temari started hesitantly, obviously noticing her brother's change in attitude. "Be easy on her, she hasn't exactly had the easiest time since his _departure_."

"He wouldn't have had to _depart_ if it weren't for her." came the cold reply of the Kazekage.

"… Gaara…"

_Flasback, 5 years ago_

"_Cheers," rang out the voice of a certain bandaged man, otherwise known as Danzo "to the demise of the Kyuubi after all these years."_

"_Cheers!" Aside from the parents of those of Rookie 9, all the Council members were there, drinking to the peace that they knew was to come._

"_Who would have thought," an elderly man began, "that after all this time, all we had to do was kill the kid to rid ourselves of that wretched demon!"_

"_To be honest," replied another, "I half expected the nine-tails himself jump right out of the boy's body when it happened. I'm glad that I was wrong though."_

"_It appears that the Kyuubi had to rely on the boy in order to survive," Danzo assured the members of the council, "without the boy, the demon has obviously ceased to exist."_

"_Well, I'll drink to that."_

"_Cheers!"_

"_Lord Danzo!" interrupted the voice of a masked Shinobi, appeared behind the crippled man. It was obvious that from his mask markings and stature that he was part of the Root division, a division of the ANBU that Danzo commanded._

"_What is it?" Danzo snapped, slightly annoyed that his celebration had been interrupted._

"_Forgive my interruption," the shinobi began before gesturing towards the window, "but a visitor from Suna has arrived. Apparently, he's here to congratulate us for our achievement and strengthen the bond between our two villages."_

"_Oh?" questioned Danzo, his smile returning to his face, "A diplomat from Suna? This is good news indeed. Send him in."_

"_As you wish, Lord Danzo." The shinobi replied before making a couple hand seals and disappearing in a swirl of leaves. Moments later, a hooded figure walked through the door._

"_Greetings, my dear Council members of Konohana," the man muttered, his voice somehow eerily cold._

"_G-greetings… sir." stuttered Danzo. Normally, this would not happen, as the man was known for his iron will. However, there was something that was just not right about this man. Something about him had everyone subconsciously on edge. "… What business does a diplomat of Suna have here?"_

"_Diplomat?" retorted the anonymous figure, "I'm no diplomat… I'm simply a messenger."_

"_O-oh…?" Danzo replied, raising an eyebrow, "and what message do you have to relay?"_

_Slowly, the anonymous figure's hand reached up out from under his cloak, producing a scroll. The man unraveled the parchment before clearing his throat a couple of times. "High members of Konohana's council that are gathered here tonight in celebration of the demise of Uzimaki Naruto, the village hidden in the sand has determined that on this night, one of two things will happen."_

_There was a pause of silence as the air in the room became tense. For some odd, farfetched reason, the elders were sweating from nervousness. Although the man seemed to be somewhat harmless, there was still something off about him._

_The figure, noticing that they weren't going to interrupt, continued. "Either the village of Konohana and Suna will break their treaties with each other and declare all-out war…"_

_There was a gasp that was heard among the councilmen… just what was going on here?! Wasn't this man supposed to have come here to strengthen the relationship between the villages?! So why… why was he declaring war?!_

"_Now, just wait a minute--!" Danzo began, before being interrupted by the messenger._

"_OR!" The man's chilly voice rang out, "… All of Konohana's councilmen that are assembled here tonight be executed immediately."_

_There was silence for a couple moments, as if the councilmen were waiting for the 'just kidding' line to be dropped on them. However, it never came._

"_Just who the hell do you think you are?" Danzo hissed, making a small wave with his hand. In a split second, a number of Root ANBU surrounded the anonymous figure. "Did you really think you can come here and kill us in our own homes?"_

"… _So you've picked option two then…" responded the voice, seemingly not concerned by the number of ANBU surrounding him. "… I was kind of hoping you would."_

_With that, Gaara threw his hood back, followed by the fallen of a small cork that was used as a stopper to his gourd._

The walk towards the temporary housing units was quiet for the most part, seeing as how one of the ninja was too lazy to talk, another wasn't really in the mood to talk, and the last one… well didn't have the ability to talk.

"It must be troublesome not to be able to talk." It was Shikamaru who finally broke the trend of silence. "Then again, it must be nice, never to be bothered really. Nobody would really ask you questions or anything…"

Cain simply nodded.

"Yea…" Shikamaru muttered, "you and me would get along really well…"

Another nod.

"Oy, baka!" called out a familiar voice, Shikamaru only sighed in response as a certain blond kunoichi ran up to the trio.

"… Just when I was beginning to enjoy the silence…" Shikamaru sighed, in response, he was promptly hit over the head with a large fan. "Ow… Troublesome woman."

"Now don't you start," Temari growled, before grabbing his hand and dragging him away from the other two, "come on, we're going."

"... –Going?" Shikamaru stammered, eyes widening a bit in shock, "Going where?"

"It's only customary that I show you around because you did the same for me in Konohana." She breathed out with a exasperated sigh before turning to the other two. "We'll see you two later!"

And they were gone, leaving a pair of blinking shinobi staring after them.

"Y'know…" Sakura started after a moment, "I have a feeling that she doesn't like me."

The robed sand ninja simply turned in head in her direction, she assumed it was his _'quizzical'_ look. Sighing, she began to correct her words, "Ok, okay, maybe not that… but if not… then I think there's something going on between them."

Silence only greeted her as the silent ninja simply cocked his head.

"Exactly," Sakura confirmed, beginning to feel like she was talking to a wall, "that must be it. It would definitely explain a lot."

More silence.

"Ugh, nevermind," Sakura sighed, "just forget about it. C'mon, let's just get some Ramen."

Another _'quizzical'_ look.

"J-just don't ask, okay?" Sakura stomped her foot in frustration, before spinning on her heel and storming off in a random direction. After a couple steps she stopped and hesitantly turned back to her silent companion. "Umm… where's the closest Ramen shop?"

She swore he must have rolled his eyes… she swore it!

_Flashback, 5 years ago_

_It was a small funeral. Well… he always was the humble one. To be honest, he probably would have been surprised that so many people showed up. After all, he had grown up completely alone, so who on earth would miss him after he was gone?_

_All of Rookie 9 was there. All of it. Heck, even the stoic Hyuuga Neji that claimed to have hated the man for 'fighting fate' had turned up in honor of the one fighter he had lost to. His arm was around his cousin, who was trying her best not to break down right there and then._

_Of course, she wasn't doing a very good job of it._

_Not like Sakura was doing that much better either. Tears constantly streamed down her cheeks and fell onto the floor before her feet. Why… why was he gone? Why had he sacrificed himself for Sasuke?_

… _Sasuke…_

_She looked up for a moment, glancing about the crowd. Where was Sasuke? Did he not care…? Wasn't he… like a brother to Naruto? W-why wasn't he there? Didn't he care that Naruto had DIED in his place?_

_Apparently not, as there was no sign of the Uchiha in the small crowd of onlookers._

_Silently, Sakura made her way to the casket to pay her respects to her dearest friend. With shaking hands, she placed her while rose on top of the casket, only to linger there for a few moments to stare at the closed casket._

"_You s-stupid… stupid… idiot…" She whispered through her tears. "w-who am I supposed to make fun of now…? Who am I supposed to share the good times with now? S-sasuke-kun? N-no… I told you… I told you all those years ago… that I didn't love him anymore."_

"… _I told you that I loved you…" Sakura whispered. "So why… why did you leave me?"_

"… _Why?!" Her shoulders began to shake softly as silent tears slid down her face._

"_WHY?!" the kunoichi screamed into the distance before breaking down on top of the casket, arms draped over it as she sobbed loudly into it. Without Naruto… what was there to live for? What could she do without his smile? Without him?!_

"_DON'T LEAVE ME NARUTO!!"_

_There was no response, just the sad rumbling of thunder as droplets of rain began to fall from the sky._


	6. Sakura? What's Wrong Hunny?

**A/N: Thank you so much for your lovely reviews, they're what keep me writing this story. I'll admit, the story is slightly over-emotional and such, but I don't exactly enjoy stories that are jam-packed with fight scenes. In fact, I tend to just skim over them when I read them in other stories. It's confusing and a pain to read.**

**However, that all said, I'm about to commence my first fight scene. Hey, I said I didn't like them jam-packed. If they're sparse, that's fine, otherwise you just don't have a story.**

_Flasback, 5 years ago_

"_Sakura…" There was a 'comforting' hand placed on her shoulder, barely shaking the rather shaken kunoichi as she continued to weep in front of everyone gathered at a certain blond ninja's memorial._

_It took her a moment, but eventually the girl succeeded in lifting her head in order to identify the source of the noise. It was the Hokage, surprisingly, with a number of tears trailing down her own face. That, or it was just the stupid rain that was beginning to beat down on them._

"… _He hated it when you cried." Tsunade began, fumbling over the right words to say._

_Sakura was silent for a moment, but eventually she found the strength to speak. "… W-well… he's not here to hate it… is he?" It was more of a statement than a question, and the Hokage visibly flinched at the amount of venom that the rosette held in her tone of voice._

"_N-no…" Tsunade stammered, "but he would have hated it anyways."_

_It took a moment for the words to sink in, but when it did, Sakura simply growled and shook Tsunade's hand off of her shoulder before getting up and blindly running off._

"_Sakura!" cried out the Hokage, but she wouldn't hear it. She just wanted to get away, get away from all of it. Get away from the world and all who lived in it. Without Naruto, there was no world worth living for, worth smiling for… there was nothing but emptiness._

_Meanwhile…_

"_L-lord Kazekage!" The commander of Root stammered, his uninjured eye widening at the appearance that the young shinobi had made. "N-now just what is the meaning of this?!"_

_Gaara chuckled, it was an empty, but heavy and dark chuckle that seemed to cut through the tense air of the room like a knife. "No… you wouldn't understand… would you?"_

"_W-what?"_

"_You wouldn't understand the pain that he went through," Gaara growled, "growing up to be hated by everything he knew without knowing the reason why… growing up and having nobody to look to when it hurt here."_

_The Kazekage put a hand over his chest, clenching the hem of his robes tightly before continuing, "It's ironic really… how while I hated everyone and everything… I've grown up to be respected by everyone. Yet… while he loved everyone and everything… he grew up to be hated by everyone."_

_The old man blinked, confused. Just what was the man talking about?! Was it true that the Kazekage of Sand was just a complete nutcase? And who was this 'he' that the boy was talking about? "… L-lord Kazekage?"_

"_Still haven't figured it out…?" The Kazekage simply narrowed his sleep-deprived eyes in annoyance. "Look outside… no, listen. Do you hear the sounds of celebration? Do you hear the sound of the villagers rejoicing at the fact that he's dead?"_

_No one in the room had to strain to hear the sound of the villagers celebrating, cheering and drinking to the fact that a threat had been removed from their peaceful village._

"_W-well… of course they're celebrating!" Danzo stuttered, "The Kyuubi destroyed most of the village on its rampage! They're celebrating that its cursed existence has finally been brought to an end!"_

"_Wrong." Gaara corrected, a stream of sand slowly beginning to stream from the opening in his gourd. "He was the only thing that kept this tenuous treaty from completely crumbling... He was the only thing that stopped Suna from completely obliterating this PATHETIC village!"_

_Back in the village…_

_She just… she just wanted to get away from it all. Why… Why was he gone? Why for Sasuke… of all people?! Even as the question echoed in her head, the answer rang out even louder._

'_It's the promise of a lifetime, Sakura-chan!'_

"… _Naruto…" she wept, she wept for all she was worth. Why?! …. Why?! Why had she been so stupid, so idiotic?_

_Surprisingly enough; however, she was briefly interrupted from her thoughts by the distant sounds of shouts. It seemed to be coming from the village and... much to her horror... it sounded like... cheering._

_She was right. Within moments a distraught pink-haired kunoichi stumbled upon the most horrifying scene she had ever witnessed. Hell, seeing Orochimaru up close hadn't unsettled her as much as the scene before her._

"_Three cheers for the fall of the Kyuubi!"_

"_Peace in Konohana at last!"_

"_Thank Kami for the end of the demon brat!"_

_At the edge of the celebration, a certain rosette's eyes were wide, mouth hung loose in a mixture of shock and horror. No... No... of all things... this couldn't be happening! W-why were they doing this?_

_Some people may have believed it was a blessing that Sakura had been shaken from her trance-like shock, others would have believed it was a curse. One thing was for sure, it scarred her for the rest of her living days._

"_Oh, Sakura," came a far too familiar voice, "come to enjoy the festivities, have you?"_

"_... M-mom?"_

Present...

"Ah, Cain! How're you doing today sir?" came a jolly voice from behind the counter of a small stand. Sakura had to guess that it was a Ramen shop... especially because it really reminded her of Ichiraku's.

An elderly man came up and waved from behind the counter. Wow, it must have been deja vu or something... because this shop _really_ reminded Sakura of Ichiraku's and its owner.

The man simply got a nod from the silent nin in response.

"Oh, and who's the lovely pretty lady with you?" the man smirked at the pink-haired kunoichi with an unnerving smile. Well, the smile wasn't creepy or anything... it's just the comment that caught her off-guard. Sakura could feel her cheeks heat up slightly.

"Haruno Sakura," she answered for the mute man, throwing the elderly man her fake smile. It was funny really, how easily she could call it on now. Nowadays there wasn't a person alive that could tell the difference between her fake smiles and real smiles. Well, no one ever had been able to tell them apart... that is... aside from Naruto, of course. "... I'm a shinobi from Konohana."

"Ah... from fire country, I see." the old man smiled merrily and beckoned her and the silent nin in. "To be honest, I'm surprised the treaty has lasted so long."

"... Why's that, sir?" Sakura's interest piqued slightly.

"Well... before Kazekage left, about 5 years ago... he promised that there would be vengeance."

… _Five years ago... he could mean...? _Sakura thought, before speaking up. "V-vengeance...? Vengeance for what?"

The old man blinked. "Well for the death of Suna's hero, Uzimaki Naruto, of course."

_Flashback, 5 years ago..._

"_Ahhhhh!" cried out a masked shinobi as he plummeted through the air towards the Kazekage, kunai in hand. The boy with dark rings about his eyes didn't even flinch as a wall of sand flew up to protect him. Shocked as the masked ninja was to see that his attack had no affect, the red-haired sand ninja didn't give the man a chance to rest, as a wave of sand engulfed him._

"_Desert Coffin!" the Kazekage hissed, burying the man's face so not even his screams could be heard as his body was crushed._

"_He must have a weakness!" Danzo called out, "Find it and kill the demon!"_

"_Demon, monster, brat... is that all you people know how to say?" Gaara deadpanned, "I find it miraculous that Naruto didn't get up and massacre you all himself."_

"_He didn't because he couldn't!" Danzo growled, waving his hand as a sign to send in three more ANBU shinobi. However, they were dead faster than the first. "He knew that we would have put him down like the animal he was if he ever tried anything!"_

"_Wrong!" Gaara bit back, billows of sand beginning to dark about the place and seize random shinobi and councilmen before crushing them. "He didn't because for some unknown, godforsaken reason, he cared about this village and the pathetic people in it!"_

"_Kuroi hi jutsu! (Black flames!)" a masked Shinobi called out, releasing a barrage of black flames from the palm of his hand. The fire quickly engulfed the area that Gaara had been standing, yet it looked like the man hadn't even tried to dodge it._

"_Yes!" Danzo chuckled, "Got him!"_

_Meanwhile..._

"_Thank Kami that demon brat is finally gone," Miziko Haruno told her stunned daughter, a smile splitting her face so wide that it must've hurt, "I cannot tell you how many times I've prayed for this day to come."_

"_P-prayed for it...?" Sakura repeated, not believing her ears, "M-mom... w-what're you... saying?"_

"_Sakura? What do you mean... 'what am I saying?' " Miziko retorted, obviously oblivious to her daughter's distress. "I'm saying, I'm glad that that brat is finally gone! Now Konohana can finally be at peace without that cursed Kyuubi!"_

_Sakura was no longer looking at her mother, but at the floor, her entire form shaking. Miziko paused after a moment, looking at her daughter with a confused stare._

"_Sakura? What's wrong hunny?" Miziko spoke after a moment... still no response... "I know! You must be so glad to have finally gotten rid of the brat that--!"_

"_DON'T CALL HIM THAT!" A certain rosette had finally found her voice, and she was furious._

"_S-sakura dear?" Her mother stammered cautiously._

"_DON'T YOU DARE CALL HIM THAT!" Sakura screamed, and without thinking, she sent her fist flying at her mother's face._


	7. One Chance

Hero... Why did that sound so foreign?

In every sense of the word, the title did fit him, seeing as how he had aided so many people in his lifetime. Then why was it that the village had never deemed him as one? Why is it that even after Naruto had saved the village from the simultaneous attacks from both Sound and Sand did the villagers still mistreat him?

Come to think of it, she had really been no better.

"_Stop being so annoying! You know I love Sasuke-kun and I would NEVER get together with a twerp like you!"_

Pushing the guilt-triggering thoughts to the back of her mind, Sakura simply heaved a sigh before turning her attention back to the old man. "Ne, why would Sand consider Naruto a hero? Wasn't he the one who stopped Suna's attack on Konohana?"

It was true that the nations were now allied, but they had been enemies at one point...

The old man simply chuckled, "You believe that we would hold a grudge when we were being blindly manipulated? Besides, ever since that day, our Kazekage has been forever in that boy's debt... his death was really hard on young Kazekage-sama."

She paused, "I'll bet."

So, she wasn't the only one who missed him... well, that much was obvious. It was true that all of Rookie 9 had been hurt by the loss, but sometimes the skeptical mind of Sakura wondered if it was because they missed him for him, or for his skills.

Naruto had after all, become the strongest ninja of Rookie 9.

"But enough of my old rambling," the old man laughed, "what'll it be?"

"A-aah." Sakura blinked, dragged out of her thoughts, "Ummm... I'll have the miso ramen."

"Ah, what a coincidence," the old man chuckled, "that's Cain's favorite too."

As the old man disappeared behind the counter, Sakura couldn't help but remember the fact that she orginally didn't like miso that much... but after Naruto's death, she had taken to it. It had been his favorite, after all.

_Flashback, 5 years ago_

"_With the Kazekage dead," Danzo muttered, black flames still roaring in a section of the room, "there will definitely be a war."_

"_Don't get ahead of yourself." came Gaara's voice from the midst of the flames. Almost immediately, black flames were blown backwards, quelched by a sudden wave of sand. "Do you really think that such a lame technique would even scorch me?"_

"_L-lame?!" Danzo stammered in disbelief, "That was an A-ranked jutsu!"_

"_And I am the Kazekage." Gaara deadpanned, "Only a fool would underestimate a Kage."_

"_Enough!" Danzo growled, waving his hand forward and signaling more ANBU to spring into action, "This ends now!"_

"_I certainly agree." was Gaara's only response._

_Meanwhile..._

_There was a gasp that could be heard before a chakra-empowered fist stopped inches before Miziko's face. "S-sakura...?!"_

"_Enough." came a somewhat familiar voice, apparently the source of the noise was the thing that had saved Miziko from her daughter, as a hand had caught the rosette's wrist._

"_T-temari?!" Sakura blinked, looking up at Suna's courier, "w-what are you doing?"_

"_Get ahold of yourself," Temari hissed, "do you think this is what he would have wanted?!"_

"_Why does everyone keep telling me that?!" Sakura bit back, tearing her arm out of the blond-nin's grasp, "he's not here anymore to say anything different!"_

"_So, you would dishonor his memory by neglecting how he would have felt?" Temari spat, placing a hand on her hip in frustration. "Peh! You're such a little girl!"_

_Sakura paused, in complete shock, before pulling her hand back and slapping Temari straight across the face, "D-don't call me that! Y-you have no idea--... You have no..."_

"_Shut up." Temari growled, nursing her now-sore face, "You're hopeless."_

"_Now see here--!" Miziko interjected, somewhat miffed that she was being completely ignored. "Don't you dare talk to my daughter like that!"_

"_Or you'll what?" Temari rolled her eyes, "Hurt her more by celebrating 'his' death?"_

"_Hurt her?!" Miziko blinked, getting increasingly more and more annoyed at the Sand nin, "My dear Sakura is happy that the cursed demon brat is--!"_

_This time, when a fist was thrown at the woman, Temari did nothing to stop it._

_Back at the council chambers..._

"_Useless." Gaara growled as a couple kunai embedded themselves in his sand barrier. One would think that after about a thousand tries, they would give up. It would seem that these fools were about as stubborn as Naruto._

_No... no one was a fraction as stubborn as that blond-haired idiot._

"_Shounen Suki! (Sand Binding Coffin!)" Gaara clenched an upraised palm, signaling the deaths of five more ANBU and three councilmen._

"_... You're really serious... aren't you?" Danzo muttered, seemingly undeterred by the fact that bodies now littered the room. The councilmen that were still alive had already crapped their pants by now. "Yare Yare... looks like I'll have to use it."_

_Gaara raised a non-existant eyebrow._

_Shaking his head, the old man threw his cane aside and part the bandages on the right side of his face, revealing a rather abnormal-looking eye._

"_Sharingan!"_

_End Flashback_

"Mmmmm..." Sakura hummed happily, "tastes as good as ever."

To be honest, there are few that could deny that Ramen tasted good, it just wasn't all that healthy. Sakura had found herself envying Naruto for his high metabolism more then once. _Boys..._

"Like it?" The old man asked, "It's probably one of our customers' favorite, even though its so plain. I guess people these days are just easily satisfied... that or young people these days just can't sit down and wait long enough."

Well it was true, Ramen shops were like fast food chains... I know for a fact that people wouldn't be rushing to Mcdonalds if it took as long as a formal dinner to make.

"Gomen..." Sakura scratched the back of her neck in an embarrassed manner before explaining, "it was just one of my friend's favorites. I guess it kind of rubbed off on me."

"Friend's favorite huh?" The old man chuckled, "Is it yer' boyfriend?"

She blinked, feeling her face immediately heat up, "W-wha--?!"

"Looks like it is," his chuckle only grew louder, "sorry Cain, looks like this one is off the market."

Cain didn't even move, seriously, just because he was mute... didn't mean he needed to be so rigid all the time.

"H-he wasn't my boyfriend!" Sakura argued, face still slightly heated. Well, she had wanted him to be, just like she had wanted Sasuke to be hers all those years ago.

"Oh?" The old man frowned, "Wait... was? What do you mean by was?"

"... I don't really want to talk about it." Sakura's face fell, blush forgotten for the meantime.

"I see..." the old man fell silent, raising an eyebrow at the girl before turning to Cain with a questioning look. Of course, the silent nin didn't respond.

The rest of the meal was completed in silence, which was good, it gave Sakura a moment to clear her thoughts and Cain to think about... whatever the heck he was thinking about. Once they had finished at the restaurant, the pair left the Ramen stand, walking out into the cool sands of the night. Few took the time to realize this, but if an architect was there at that moment, they would take the time to admire the architecture of the buildings.

Suna was built in such a way that the buildings were made of insulated rock and sand. That way, during the night, the buildings would hold the heat from the day, and during the day, the buildings would hold the cold of the night.

The problem for Sakura was that they were not in a building, and she was freezing. Who could expect a _desert_ to be so danged cold? She involuntarily shivered, instantly regretting that she neglected to pack a cloak, even when she had been cautioned to do so by the mission file.

Wordlessly, of course, the sand nin removed his cloak and placed it on her shoulders.

Sakura blinked, obviously shocked that a stranger was willing to help her, "W-won't you get cold?"

Cain shook his head.

"Ummm... well, thanks." Sakura looked away, a little embarrassed to getting aid from someone she had threatened earlier. "And uhh... sorry for earlier."

He simply nodded before trudging forward, signaling for her to follow with his hand.

_Flashback, 12 years ago_

_Why, why was it that every danged time that Sakura tried to get some alone time with Sasuke-kun that that annoying little brat had to show up?! Sakura growled and kicked the dirt with the toe of her shoe as she grumpily trod along a path._

_She had been rejected, once again by her Sasuke-kun. Why? Why couldn't that man just give her one chance... Just one chance! It made no sense! It's not like she was asking for much. Unfortunately, she didn't really realize how hypocritical that statement was._

"_Sakura-chaaaaaan!" Great, just what she needed._

"_What do you want!" Sakura snapped, her fiery gaze falling on the least fortunate male on the planet as of that moment._

"_Uhhh..." Naruto started hesitantly, a bit taken aback by her foul mood, "...well I was just wondering if--..."_

"_No." she cut him off, knowing exactly what he was going to ask._

"_You don't even know what I was going to askkkk!" Naruto pouted playfully, "Come on, Sakura-chan, just one chance!"_

"_No means no baka!" Sakura growled, a vein beginning to pop out of her forehead._

"_C'mon Sakurrraaaa-ccchhhaaaannnnn...!"_

"_Stop being so annoying!" Sakura finally cracked, snarling loudly in Naruto's direction, "You know I love Sasuke-kun and I would NEVER get together with a twerp like you!"_

_There was silence for a moment as a certain blond-boy felt his heart shatter into a million piece; however, on the outside, his smile only slightly faltered._

"_Oh... okay." Naruto said after a long moment before turning on his heel and walking away, "Sorry to have bothered you... Sakura."_

_She blinked, where did the 'chan' go?_

_End Flashback_

She sighed, attempting to push yet another guilt-triggering memory to the back of her head as she followed Cain to her guest quarters. Jeez, why had she been such an insensitive little girl all those years ago...? Why was it that she had been so cruel to the one person who had never turned his back on her?

_'Oh Naruto...'_ she thought wistfully, _'if you were still here... I wish that you would be willing to give ME that one chance.'_


	8. I Miss You

_'C'mon! C'mon!'_ Sakura mentally groaned as she tossed to and fro about her bed, why couldn't she sleep at all? She knew that it was going to be a long day ahead for her, what with the Kazekage's debriefing and all, and yet she just couldn't sleep. _'Why can't I just fall asleep?!'_

Right, like screaming mentally at herself was going to get her to fall asleep faster.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, the rosette growled and threw her covers off before sitting up to inspect the dark guest quarters that Gaara had kindly accommodated them with. To be honest, it wasn't too shabby, what with a rug, mirror, bathroom and bed... well, they were diplomats after all.

Diplomat Sakura Haruno... that sounded kind of funny. Shaking her head for thinking such random thoughts, the young kunoichi sighed and swung her legs over the side of the bed before getting up. After all, it was obvious that she wasn't going to get anymore sleep that night.

Briefly, the rosette wondered where her silent guardian was. She recalled having told him that he wasn't allowed into a _lady's _room, but that had not stopped the man from standing in front of the door until she shut it. She sighed, wondering for a moment how hard it would be to grow up completely mute. It had to have been difficult.

Creaking the door open, she was slightly surprised to find that the silent nin was not still standing guard by her door. Pfft... some bodyguard he made. Oh well, as long as he wasn't around, she could find some time to herself and her own thoughts. Taking the stairs to the roof, the young kunoichi took the opportunity to take a seat on the railing, letting her legs hang loosely off the edge of the building. To be honest, she missed times like these, times in which she could simply spend by herself in silence.

Times like that didn't really happen anymore in Konohana, as Tsunade was still quite the slave-driver. Although they weren't really on speaking terms anymore, that didn't really stop the Hokage from giving her orders through Shizune.

Stupid powerful people in powerfuly high places...

_Swish!_

The rosette's head immediately perked up, only to find a red-haired man standing behind her. "K-kazekage-sama!" she stammered out, hurriedly rising to her feet.

"..." was all the insomniac had to say.

"Uhhh... couldn't sleep sir...?"

He raised a non-existent eyebrow before pointing towards the dark circles that surrounded his eyes. Sakura simply sweat-dropped and scratched the back of her head, realizing how dumb the question had been. Unable to think of what else to say, the rosette lapsed into silence before turning her attention back to the stars.

"... Why didn't you stop them?" came a question from behind the girl, causing her to jump in surprise. She had never in all her time on the planet expect the Kazekage to begin a conversation with her... In fact, she always had the feeling that the man looked down on her because of how... weak she was.

"P-pardon...?" Sakura blinked, stop who, exactly?

"You know exactly what I'm talking about," Gaara deadpanned, eyes narrowing in slight annoyance. However, for some odd reason, he humored her question, "why didn't you stop them from killing him?"

Her mind finally flipping to the right page, Sakura's eyes suddenly widened slightly in fear of the young Kazekage, "G-Gaara-sama..."

_Flashback, 5 years ago_

"_Sharingan?" Gaara narrowed his eyes in disgust, "Who's life did you harvest simply so that you could attain it?"_

"_Harvest?!" Danzo scowled, his slightly deformed eye swiveling to watch the red-haired boy, "I'm not the heartless worm that you put me out to be, it was Uchiha Itachi who murdered the former wielder of this eye, I simply didn't let it go to waste."_

"_And who was it that gave Itachi the order...?" Gaara growled, a torrent of sand beginning to flow about him._

"_..."_

"_I thought so," Gaara spat, "the likes of you simply disgust me."_

_Without warning, a sudden wave of sand, dirt, and dissolved wood chips rose from the floor, throwing up wood panels in disarray, flying in every-which-way. The wave itself seemed to grow, dirt and debris collecting up it in far moreso than what seemed possible in Gaara's gourd._

_'The Sharingan tells me that the Kazekage is pouring a limited amount of chakra into the ground beneath him, mixing his chakra-infused sand with the dirt beneath the building,' Danzo quickly deduced, cursing himself for not realizing it sooner, 'that way, the boy can easily have access to tons more sand and dirt than he originally had on him... this is going to be tougher than I thought.'_

_Danzo only grunted as a seemingly unending amount of sand began to form a sand tsunami, with that, he was immediately buried._

_End Flashback_

"Let's get one thing straight," Gaara's cold voice rang out across the rooftop, "when this is all over, I don't ever want to see you again."

She blinked, eyes going wide in obvious shock. H-had she done something wrong? "G-Gaara-sama--...?"

"Why did you it?" Gaara cut her off, causing her to fall into shocked silence. Do what? "... why did you ask him to get the traitor back?"

Him? The traitor? Wha--? Suddenly it all clicked. Sakura's eyes widened once again as she realized what the Kazekage was talking about. "I-I--..."

"Because of you, he's gone." Gaara continued, officially rubbing salt in her wounds. It took her a moment, but she bit her lip hard in order to stop the tears that threatened to come out of her eyes. Damnit, didn't Gaara know that she was sorry? Did he have to--...

"Why are you crying?" Gaara narrowed his eyes, sand suddenly beginning to buzz about him in the air like a mild flock of insects. Sakura froze, he wasn't going to kill her, was he? "You should be happy, he fulfilled his promise."

No, no, no, this couldn't be happening! Sakura grabbed her hair, tears now beginning to roll down her cheeks. Didn't Gaara get it?! "I-I'm s-sorry!" she choked out.

There was a moment of silence as Sakura silently sobbed. "... that's not good enough."

Just like that, a wave of sand flew in her direction.

–

"AH!" Sakura screamed, jerking out of bed and sweating like a maniac. I-it was... just a dream?

Immediately, the door was thrown open as her appointed bodyguard flew through the door, his kunai already drawn. It took him a moment, but once he realized that there was no immediate danger, he put away the tiny weapon.

"G-gomen..." Sakura breathed out shakily, trying to recompose herself as she held her sheets to herself, "B-bad dream."

The silent nin simply nodded, turning his attention towards the window so that she would not be shamed in having him see her during a weak moment. Sakura was grateful for that... at least, that's what she believed his intentions were.

"Ummm... could you leave the room for a moment?" she asked after a couple moments of silence, "I need to get changed."

A _'quizzical'_ look, it was 3:30 in the morning.

"I know, I know..." Sakura said, exhaling loudly, "I just need to go see G-- I mean uhm... Kazekage-sama for something."

_'Quizzical'_

"Just don't ask alright?!" Sakura growled suddenly, "Now get out!"

That sent him packing.

_Flashback, 5 years ago_

_Sakura sighed, placing her hand on her hips. She knew she should be sleeping, it was; after all, 3:30 in the morning, but she couldn't. Especially not with Naruto not around. Especially since he had supposedly located Sasuke after all these years. She didn't understand, why the hell had he gone after him again?_

_Ugh! There was absolutely no way she was going to get any sleep tonight. Sighing deeply, the girl decided to go outside and take a thought-cleansing walk._

_No good, every time she thought about anything, all she could think about was that blond-haired idiot. Where was he now? Where would he have found Sasuke? How would he have found Sasuke? She just couldn't piece it together. It didn't make ANY sense._

"_I hate this." she murmured out loud, only finally thinking of looking up and finding out where the heck she was. Oh... she just so happened to be in front of Naruto's place, "great..."_

_It wasn't really anything all that new. After all, Sakura had been here before. Of course... that was years ago, when they were still talking... that was. Pushing aside those thoughts, Sakura searched about the doormat for his spare key. She found it right where he had always kept it._

_Sakura smirked, somethings never changed about a certain blond-haired idiot._

_The rosette didn't know why exactly she let herself in... only that she had suddenly felt the need to be near something that reminded her of him._

_'Look at me,' she mentally berated, 'I'm thinking like he's going to die. I can't think like that! Besides, this is Naruto we're talking about! He can't die!'_

_Once inside the apartment, the girl took a moment to take her surroundings in. Right, okay, so a little messy... but she honestly had been expecting worse. After all, Naruto had proven to be that pretty disgusting during his younger days. She should know, she camped with him!_

_Despite common belief, the house of Uzumaki Naruto's was not as bad as the disastrous whirlwind that she had been expecting. There were some messes, but they seemed to be more-or-less contained. For a guy, this was actually quite tidy._

_She frowned, that gave her less to do._

_Focusing on keeping herself preoccupied, the rosette immediately set off to work. Sakura picked up loose articles of clothing, swept up the floor, and even cleaned out the boy's refrigerator for expired food._

_It took her about two hours, but when she was just about finishing up, she had accidentally bumped into a closet, which ad sent a small black book tumbling to the floor. Berating herself mentally for her clumsiness, she bent over to pick it up, only to have it fall open in her hands._

"_October 10, '47 (4 years after the formation of Team 7)_

_Sakura-chan forgot my birthday again this year. Well, I guess I can't blame her, I mean, she is kind of busy... I guess. Well, we're busy searching for Sasuke-teme, that's more important, right? Well no, I won't lie, I'm kinda disappointed. I mean, I have been gone for three years and all..._

_Hey, look at me, I'm sounding selfish. What matters is that Sakura-chan is happy. I would do anything to see her smile a real smile again, not those fake ones that she always wears these days._

_I just want her to be happy."_

_Sakura's eyes widened as she realized what she had come across. She couldn't read this! This was Naruto's personal thoughts! B-but... she couldn't seem to find the willpower to close the book, espcially not after the last entry had been about her!_

_'J-just... one more,' she rationalized, 'then I'll put it away!'_

"_Decemeber 25, '52_

_Merry Christmas Naruto! Wow, I can't believe its already Christmas. I guess I've just been so busy training that I haven't paid attention to everything that's been going on. It's just, I want Sasuke to come you y'know? I can feel that it's close now and I really want Sakura-chan to be happy again._

_Yea, once Teme is back, everything can go back to the way it was and I can just be that annoying guy again! Yea... yea....._

_You know what, sometimes Iruka-sensei asks me why I do what I'm doing. I love Sakura-chan so why am I going off to bring back the other man that she loves? It doesn't make sense right? I mean, I bet you everyone looks at me as if I'm crazy._

_They're probably right._

_But that doesn't matter to me. You know, I just love her so much that I'm willing to give up what I want so that she'll be happy."_

_Sakura blinked, read it, and re-read it again. All for her? Why? Didn't he hate seeing her around? Couldn't he not stand her because of that lame, faked confession she had given him four years ago?_

_All because he loved her...?_

_Sighing deeply, the rosette flipped over to the next empty page and picked up a pen._

"_January 1, '53_

_Happy News Years, Naruto. When you read this, come find me, please?_

_I miss you."_


End file.
